This page is a collection of solutions I've needed for my own use and have put them here largely because I wanted them easily accessible. I hope you find them useful.

Adobe Acrobat Issues

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Should I re-install my OS, good Internet habits, how to go about re-installing my operating system, should I buy or build a new computer.

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How do I backup my sites and settings for CuteFTP? There are two ways. Copy the contents of C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\GlobalSCAPE\CuteFTP to your backup location or open the program > click Help > Backup Registration and Personal Data

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Event Type: Error
Event Source: EventSystem
Event Category: (50)
Event ID: 4609
Date: 4/13/2006
Time: 9:29:41 PM
User: N/A
Computer: SERVER
Description:
The COM+ Event System detected a bad return code during its internal processing. HRESULT was 8007041F from line 44 of d:\qxp_slp\com\com1x\src\events\tier1\eventsystemobj.cpp. Please contact Microsoft Product Support Services to report this error.

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How to remove specific characters from a huge text list.

Objective - You want to remove the numbers, the space, the dash and the space from the following list so that all is left is the genre.

Method - Paste the text into a Word document. Click Edit > Replace > Click the More button > put a check in the Use Wildcards box > put 2 question marks, a space, a dash and a space in the "Find What" field ?? - . Leave the "Replace" with field blank. Click Replace All. Voila!

If you have a varying sequence(your numbers go to 3 digits) you'll have to replace using the above ?? - string and then use one question mark to remove the remaining digit.

00 - Blues
01 - Classic Rock
02 - Country
03 - Dance
04 - Disco
05 - Funk
06 - Grunge
07 - Hip-Hop
08 - Jazz
09 - Metal
10 - New Age
11 - Oldies
12 - Other
13 - Pop
14 - R&B

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My Favorite Software

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Change the location of your favorites by editing the following keys

1/22/2007 Outlook is crashing again, but there was very little information in the crash window that popped up. I tried rebooting, and then clearing my mail via webmail (I've had bad emails crash other email apps). Neither of these helped. Hmmm... maybe McAfee has broken outlook again. I removed McAfee and sure enough, Outlook started working.

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Microsoft Office 12
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1000
Date: 1/22/2007
Time: 6:40:20 AM
User: N/A
Computer: SERVER
Description:
Faulting application outlook.exe, version 12.0.4518.1014, stamp 4542840f, faulting module scanemal.dll, version 8.0.0.1020, stamp 4480ec45, debug? 0, fault address 0x0000349d.

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Where does IE7 store it's cache / temporary internet files? C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files

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CuteFTP settings for folder synchronization.

If the destination date is <no matter> & the size is <different> during <any transfer>, then <overwrite>. Settings file available here.

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How to schedule a defrag of your drives - Create a batch file, with the following content and then run the batch monthly with kirby alarm.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555098

C:\WINDOWS\system32\defr ag.exe driveletter: -f (the -f  forces a defrag on the drive)
C:\WINDOWS\system32\defrag.exe driveletter: -f

Replace driveletter: with whatever drive you want to defrag, followed by a colon.If you have more than one drive, enter a defrag command line for each drive. They will defrag one at a time in the order listed.

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Edit, Search, Install items missing from the context menu

This is usually, if not always caused by a problematic third-party shell extension. This is the Google discussion that helped me find the fix. Here's Ramesh's Page on the subject and my mirror of it in case it goes away.   Here's an excellent program to help you.      And here's my mirror of the file. Here's an app (that I haven't tried) that may be useful when you have things working normally again.

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Intel BOXDP35DPM LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard

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A user on an XP box with less than admin privileges wants to run a program as administrator without manually entering the admin credentials each time. Can this be done? Yes.

"Create a shortcut to the program and then under the properties for that program icon in the Target add:  c:\windows\system32\runas.exe /savecred /user:Administrator before the actual path, so for internet explorer it would like this:  c:\windows\system32\runas.exe /savecred /user:Administrator "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE"

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CuteFTP breaks ability to right click a batch file and click Edit.

CuteFTP adds a context menu item called CuteFTP 8 Professional Shell Extension which breaks the ability to right click a batch file and click "Edit". Use the program called ShellExView to find this and disable it.

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Whois Information

Easy access to whois information http://whois.domaintools.com/domainame Replace the word domainname with whatever domain you wish to get info about.

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Excel Scaling Not Working

If Excel is not scaling any longer for you, try changing your printer driver. Mine stopped one day and I changed from PS to PCL driver and all was well.

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Running MSConfig gives the following error - An Access Denied eror was returned while attemtping to change a service, You may need to log on using an administrator account to make specific changes.

Fix: If you're using McAfee A/V disable On Access Scan. You may have to poke around a while in the console to change a setting that will permit this. Look for confirmation that On Access Scan is off. The McAfee icon may have a red circle/slash on it. Now run MSConfig and close it. When I did these things, MSConfig runs normally now.

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Having trouble with a Microsoft Update? Start an online support request here: https://support.microsoft.com/oas/default.aspx?gprid=6527

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Path to the Vista start menu: C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

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Time to Review your Backup Procedures

• Do you know where your application CD’s and registration keys are located if you need to rebuild your system?
• Are your recent photos safe?
• Have you verified that your backed up data is not corrupted?
• Does your backup program include everything you’ll want to save?
• Has your backup software been updated recently to fix bugs?
• If you are looking for a backup program, check out the following: Synctoy - Powertoy from MS, Syncback, Robocopy or Replicator at karenware.com .

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Vista/Windows 7 Info

• Quick Launch folder location C:\Users\painter\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
• All users start menu/programs location C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
• Individual user’s start menu/programs C:\Users\painter\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

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• Allway Sync Notes

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Pinning a file to the Start Menu - Drag it to the start button, then to the pinning area.

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• If you find that Framemaker is putting a security password on the PDF file, open the Adobe Distiller program > Settings > Security and remove security.

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Why doesn't Chrome remember its window size settings?

THIS WILL WORK!!!!!!!!

1- Open Google Chrome
2- Click the Wrench
3- Click "exit"
4- Immediately open google chrome again
5- Resize Window to desired size
6- Close google chrome using the "x" at top right of screen

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7-9-2017 Chrome spawns lsass.exe, consumes a lot of processor and chrome takes 90 seconds to open google.com.

Deleted C:\Users\<username>\appdata\roaming\microsoft\protect\<guid> the <guid> will be a folder with some long identifier. Delete this. Worked for me. Thanks to https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=374624

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7-9-2017 Alternate Row Shading in Excel

Excel's Conditional Formatting feature makes this a simple task.

Select the area that you want to format

Choose Styles > Conditional Formatting > New Rule > Use formula to determine which cells to format

In theNew Formatting Rule dialog box, select Use a formula to determine which cells to format, and enter this formula: =MOD(ROW(),2)=0

Click the Format button, select the Fill tab, and specify a color for the shaded rows.

Click OK twice to return to your worksheet.

The row shading is dynamic. You'll find that the row shading persists as you insert or delete rows within the original range.

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To view Chrome history

• Get https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/chrome_history_view.html

• Get the history file of the user (C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\history (no extension)) and copy it into your Chrome history folder > C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default

•  Run the Nirsoft app and history will be viewable and is exportable to a text file.

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Finding Long File Names

If you run into a situation where you cannot work with files because the directory contains files with a name or path that is too long, this will tell you how to find those files. This happened to me when I tried burning a DVD to backup a user’s files. The file name or directory path was too long for the file system on the DVD.

The information regarding the VBS script came from https://forums.windowssecrets.com/showthread.php/159440-Searching-for-long-file-names

1. Put the following text into notepad and save as FilePathChecker.vbs
2. Run the script and enter the path to the directory you want to check.
3. Results will be placed in a text file.
4. Import that information to Excel.
5. The left column will have the number of characters of the file to the right, along with a drive letter and ( ).
6. Use the find/replace function, along with Options > Search: By columns, to remove the ( ) and the letter of the drive so that you only have a number in that left column.
7. Sort on that number and you’ll find the files with the largest number of characters.
8. Find them on your media and clean them up.
9. Not too tough and it worked. I was able to burn the DVD.

Dim oShell

Set oShell = CreateObject("Wscript.Shell")

Const FOR_READING = 1

strFolder = InputBox("Enter the filepath (local or UNC) you wish to query, e.g. C:\Windows or \\server\share$\folder")

'strFolder = "C:\Windows"

Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

'Create a file to pipe the results to

LogFileName = oShell.SpecialFolders("Desktop") & "\FilePathLength.txt"

Set fsHandle = objFSO.OpenTextFile (LogFileName,8,True)

'Recurse through folders and get the full path of files, inc. in sub-folders

Set objFolder = objFSO.GetFolder(strFolder)

fsHandle.Writeline objFolder.Path

Set colFiles = objFolder.Files

For Each objFile In colFiles

  fsHandle.Writeline "(" & Len(objFile.Path) & " Chrs) " & objFile.Path

Next

ShowSubFolders(objFolder)

Sub ShowSubFolders(objFolder)

  Set colFolders = objFolder.SubFolders

  For Each objSubFolder In colFolders

    fsHandle.Writeline objSubFolder.Path

    Set colFiles = objSubFolder.Files

    For Each objFile In colFiles

      fsHandle.Writeline "(" & Len(objFile.Path) & " Chrs) " & objFile.Path

    Next

    ShowSubFolders(objSubFolder)

  Next

End Sub

oShell.Popup "Check the FilePathLength.txt file on your desktop.", 3, "Path length checker"

Wscript.Quit()

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2/2020

I was messing around with security certificates trying to detemine a way to install a particular cert for Palo Alto's Global Protect.

That was my first mistake. Don't mess with something that works, even if you have to acknowledge a few things.

Something broke which caused Global Protect to respond with something about a revoked certificate. I could not connect to the office LAN via Global Protect with my desktop PC at home, but I could with a laptop.

Something changed with the desktop. Switching users didn't help either, therefore it was a problem with a global setting on the desktop.

Solution: I ran the MMC snap-in on both systems as follows. I compared the contents of the Trusted Root Certification Authorities and Untrusted Certificates. After analyzing the differences, I found the problem.

1. CMD > MMC > File > Add/Remove Snap-in > Click Certifcates in left pane > Add > Computer Account > Next > Finish > OK > Double click "Certifcates (Local Computer) > Double Click Untrusted Certificates
   
2. There were two folders under Untrusted Certificates, Certificate Trust List and Certificates. There was a certificate in the certificates sub-folder that coorelated to my problem. I don't remember what it said, but it did say that is was in revoked status. I deleted that and the problem was solved.

http://woshub.com/updating-trusted-root-certificates-in-windows-10/

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How to Make Windows Photo Viewer Your Default Image Viewer on Windows 10

https://www.howtogeek.com/225844/how-to-make-windows-photo-viewer-your-default-image-viewer-on-windows-10/

Reg file to use PhotoViewer

Reg file to return to default state

Then

In the “How do you want to open this file?” window, select Windows Photo Viewer. If you don’t see it at first, scroll to the bottom of what’s listed and click the “More apps” option—it’ll show up. Select the “Always use this app to open .___ files” option, and then click “OK.”

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Solving Problems with Windows Updates

I have found lot of different things to try when there are problems with Windows Update. Try the following.

This takes you through several different steps. If none work, you will need to reinstall the OS.

1. You will encounter problems with this guide. One that I had was when I tried to rename catroot2. I got “Access Denied”. The solution to that was found here . The batch file mentioned in the latter link is found in the same folder as this document.
2. I’ve also encountered a situation where Windows Update says that Update isn’t working and you need to restart the computer . The fix I found for this was put update into the “never update” mode and do a manual update. After the manual update, put it back to automatic.
3. Perhaps I will try downloading that patch manually. The page to download these from is http://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/home.aspx
4. The update readiness tool found here is also something to try.

I don’t remember much about the following, so I’ll leave it here for later.

Method 1: Run Windows update troubleshooter (if you have not run already)

a.       Open Search by swiping in from the right edge of the screen (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen and moving the mouse pointer down), and then tapping or clicking Search.

b.      Tap or click Settings and type troubleshooting in the text box.

c.       Tap or click Troubleshooting from the list of results.

d.      Tap or click Fix problems with Windows Update, click Next and follow the instructions.

Method 2: Perform clean boot and check.

You may perform a clean boot to check if any third party application is causing the issue.

Step 1:

a) Press the ‘Windows + R’ key on the keyboard.

b) In the ‘Run’ windows type ’MSCONFIG’ and click ‘Ok’.

c) Click the ‘Boot’ tab and uncheck ‘Safe Boot’ option.

d) On the ‘General’ tab, click to select the option ‘Selective startup’, and then click to clear the option Load startup items check box.

e) On the ‘Services’ tab, click to select the ‘Hide all Microsoft services’ check box, and then click ‘Disable all’.

f) On the ‘StartUp’ tab, click ‘Open Task Manager’. In the Task Manager window under startup tab, right click on each startup item which are enabled and select ‘Disable’.

g) Click ‘OK’, and then click Restart.

Step 2: Enable half of the services

a) Follow steps 1a and 1b to start the System Configuration utility.

b) Click the Services tab, and then click to select the Hide all Microsoft services check box.

c) Click to select half of the check boxes in the Service list.

d) Click OK, and then click Restart.

Step 3: Determine whether the problem returns

If the problem still occurs, repeat step 1 and step 2. In step 2, click to clear half of the check boxes that you originally selected in theService list.

If the problem does not occur, repeat step 1 and step 2. In step 2, select only half of the remaining check boxes that are cleared in theService list. Repeat these steps until you have selected all the check boxes.

If only one service is selected in the Service list, and you still experience the problem, the selected service causes the problem. Go to step 6. If no service causes this problem, go to step 4.

Step 4: Enable half of the Startup items

If no startup item causes this problem, a Microsoft service most likely causes the problem. To determine which Microsoft service may be causing the problem, repeat step 1 and step 2 without selecting the Hide all Microsoft services check box in either step.

Step 5: Determine whether the problem returns

If the problem still occurs, repeat step 1 and step 4. In step 4, click to clear half of the check boxes that you originally selected in theStartup Item list.

If the problem does not occur, repeat step 1 and step 4. In step 4, select only half of the remaining check boxes that are cleared in theStartup Item list. Repeat these steps until you have selected all the check boxes.

If only one startup item is selected in the Startup Item list, and you still experience the problem, the startup item that is selected in the list is the service that is causing the problem. Go to step 6.

If no startup item causes this problem, a Microsoft service most likely causes the problem. To determine which Microsoft service may be causing the problem, repeat step 1 and step 2 without selecting the Hide all Microsoft services check box in either step.

Step 6: Resolve the problem

After you determine the startup item or the service that causes the problem, contact the program manufacturer to determine whether the problem can be resolved. Or, run the System Configuration utility, and then click to clear the check box for the problem item.

Step 7:

Note:  After you have finished troubleshooting, follow these steps to boot to normal startup.

a) Press the ‘Windows + R’ key on the keyboard.

b) In the ‘Run’ windows type ’MSCONFIG’ and click ‘Ok’.

c) On the ‘General’ tab, click the ‘Normal Startup’ option, and then click ‘OK’.

d) When you are prompted to restart the computer, click ‘Restart’.

Method 3: Run System Update Readiness Tool and check.

System Update Readiness Tool fixes Windows Update errors in Windows 8, Windows 7, and Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2008

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947821

Also consider:

Update for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems (KB3172605)

Update for Windows 7 (KB3172605)

This is an offline update option

This fixed a recent windows update problem I had - 64 bit 32 bit

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Viewing an XPS file

Do the following to add the XPS Viewer app.

Windows Key+i > Apps > Apps & features > Manage optional features > Add a feature > XPS viewer > Install

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